The New Code
by shinigami-shane
Summary: A new geass order has arisen and threatens Nunally's leadership, survival and Suzaku can do nothing about it. therefore he enlists the help of the only person that he can implcitly entrust Nunally's safety to.
1. The Revival of a Demon

I am... Zero, or, at least I was before the Zero Requiem. The world is currently at peace and l have passed into anonymity along with C2. I still keep informed on how Nunally is doing, she is my sister after all. I'm still in contact with Suzaku, so I still know what is going on in the shadow world of international politics. I'm considering joining the Black Knights, you know, do my part in the search for peace; although some would say that I've done enough for five lifetimes. That is unlikely to be the case though; when I destroyed the former emperor of Britannia when Suzaku, C.C. and I were at the Sword of Akasha I actually did something that neither C2 nor I could expect... I actually gained my(and I use this term loosely) father's code. It took my death to activate it. I am no longer using Lamperouge as my last name as the Black Knights are well aware of it. I'm now using Carpenter although C2 occasionally refers to me as L2 and we're calling C2, Cecelia in public, you can imagine the looks that we'd get if we referred to each other by our Geass names in public.

At this point C2 walks into Lelouche's study and said "you still working on that thing?"

"Yes."

"What was it you called it again?"

"A memoir."

"Right, well, you got another letter from Suzaku."

Lelouche said more to himself than to C2 "really, I wonder what it's about. I only got one from him 2 days ago and usually there's about a month's gap between them."

C2 said in a dry monotone "how should I know?"

"Of course you couldn't, where is it?"

C2 then produced the letter and said "here you go."

"Thank you" said Lelouche and urgently grabs the letter and rips it open by the side and started reading it.

_Lelouche,_

_ I know it's only been a few days since my last letter to you and we agreed for_

_ at least a month's gap but it's urgent. We've received a threat against Nunally._

_ Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, unfortunately out handwriting _

_ experts claim that the person that sent it was from an upper-class family. They _

_ could tell by the words and the style of cursive used in the letter that was sent._

_ They couldn't tell exactly what style was used as they hadn't seen anything like_

_ it before. I have though, I saw you using it when you first moved to the live with_

_ me when we were children. The letter also mentioned 'The Power of the King.'_

_ Keep whatever you decide to do to yourself. I don't know who to trust at the _

_moment. I know you already know this, but don't contact me again until this_

_is all over._

_Sincerely,_

_ Your friend, Suzaku Kururugi._

After reading the letter Lelouche angrily said to C2 "I thought that we destroyed everything related to Geass."

"We did."

"Then why has Nunally had a threat made against her by someone claiming to have 'The Power of the King'?"

"If someone started the Geass research again there's nothing that you or I can do to stop, or find out about it through our codes."

"Why not, I thought that we could monitor anything related to Geass through our codes."

"It's because it's a different order. The way that they make the original code would be different to the way that ours were."

"So all that matters is the original process, not the result?"

"Exactly."

"Alright, Suzaku knows about the threat, therefore he'd contact Kallen and the Black Knights."

"That would be the logical step, yes."

"That's under the rules and regulations of the United Federation of Nations. The enemy must know this. They are after all among the remnants of my family; therefore they'd have some sort of anti – Black Knight strategy. If that's so then using the Black Knights or any of their current Knightmare Frames would be pointless, so would ours..."

C2 interrupted at this point saying "so, we need some new Knightmare Frames."

"Exactly."

"So, do we contact Rakshata"

"No, she designed our current ones and they're not going to be enough, besides she's still working for the Black Knights."

"Then Lloyd?"

"No, we can't use him either; he almost specialises on the Lancelot and its variations."

"Then who? You just got rid of the 2 foremost experts in Knightmare design."

"I'm thinking of Nina actually."

"Are you sure? I thought she hated you; also didn't she disregard the study of Knightmare design?"

"Yes I'm sure, if she could design something as devastating as the F.L.E.I.J.A(1) she can design 2 Knightmare Frames, and if she does need help, I'm pretty sure that she still has Lloyds phone number."

"Even if she does design them for us, where will you build them?"

"What do you think I've been doing these last 5 years? I've acquired and repaired the facility where the F.L.E.I.J.A's were built, and even if it isn't adequate, we can always borrow the Black Knights' facilities."

"I see. So you've been planning for this for a while I see?"

"Yes, I couldn't help but have the feeling that one or more of the aristocracy, even without Schneizel around would try to attempt another coup de tat and usurp Nunally. Even if the inability to walk _did_ stem from my father's Geass, the fact remains and some of my family aren't afraid to use that to their advantage. That kind of thinking is unfortunately inherent in our gene's from our father, only our mother's gene's allowed Nunally and I to see past the power and live for others' sake; that's why she needs to be in charge of Britannia right now."

"I see."

"It's kind of amusing really."

"What is?"

"I heard you and Suzaku talking that one time; when he said '_I am his sword and will cut down his enemies, you must be his shield._'"

"What's so funny about it?"

"It would appear that now, Suzaku and My roles are reversed."

"I see."

"Now, we need to get in contact with Nina; the last I heard she'd taken a job at the Black Knights' R&D Department."

"So how are you going to get her to design our new Knightmare Frames if she's working for the people we've been trying to hide from?"

"Simple really, I'll join the Black Knights to get to her" Lelouche then smirked and said "Suzaku once told me that the Black Knights use mass production versions of the Lancelot Albion that Suzaku used in the Zero Requiem. Apparently Suzaku had Lloyd develop a Lancelot Albion mk. II for him, apparently to continue on with the Zero scheme that we hatched together the mk. II is black and yellow in colouration. They also use mass production versions of the Guren S.A.I.T.A.N. Kallen had Rakshata develop a mk. II version as well, she's using black and red, so as to distinguish between them."

"So your colours got passed on; you can't use black and yellow anymore."

"So it would seem. I think I'll use black and white this time."

"heh, it's kind of poetic isn't it, part Zero, part Royal."

"I thought so, yes."

"Well, I don't want another pink one; that was rather unkind of you, making assumptions like that."

"Well, what colours would you prefer my immortal witch."

Indignantly C.C. puts her hand on her hips and said "by your logic that would make _you_ an immortal warlock now, wouldn't it, Lelouche."

"And what of it?"

"Nothing, I'm merely saying that we're more alike than ever before, now then aren't we."

"I suppose so. Anyway, what colour did you want?"

"How about sky blue?"

"Fine."

"Now to get in contact with Nina."

"Do you know where the Black Knights' R&D Department is located?"

"Yes, try to hide it though they might, it's in the Macdonnel Ranges in Australia."

F.L.E.I.J.A. (Field Limitary Effective Implosion Armament, pronounced "Freya"), vaporizes everything within a specific radius. The one used on Tokyo obliterates everything within eight kilometres, while another used on the Britannian capital of Pendragon destroys everything within 100 kilometres, accomplished by removing the limiter on the device.


	2. The Demon and the Witch Takeoff

Ok, I forgot this during the first chapter.

I don't own Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion or Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion R2. I don't own any of the characters belonging to the Anime/Manga Code Geass. I do own any OC's that I may create as well as any location not mentioned in the Anime/Manga: Code Geass.

"So, how are we going to get to Australia, it's not like we can just get up and fly over there commercially now can we?" C.C. asked.

"Of course not. What do you take me for? Of course along with my control of the F.L.E.I.J.A. factory I also acquired all of its assets. That includes its corporate jet."

"Corporate jet, real subtle."

"I don't want to hear it from someone who's great idea for us to get to Australia was to fly in commercially, where there are enough security checks to drown an elephant, and our faces have been seen by everyone in the whole world thanks to the Zero Requiem."

"You remember that it was your idea right."

"Of course. That doesn't mean that it makes it any less frustrating."

"Well, we should start packing then."

"Yes, I'll make sure that the plane's ready for takeoff" Lelouche said. He then went to their kitchen and phoned the Graz airport and said to the flight manager "My wife and I are going to use the Zero Corporation's jet. It's in hanger 12, can you have it ready for our departure in an hour and a half."

"Yes sir" said the flight manager on the other side of the phone.

"Thank you for that."

"No problem sir."

Lelouche then hung up the phone and said to himself "damnable simpletons."

"Simpletons eh, Lelouche" C.C said.

"Am I wrong?"

"Not really."

"Then I don't want to hear about it."

"Alright then."

"Good."

After Lelouche and C.C. arrived at the airport(1) they went to the booking desk and Lelouche said "I', Lelouche carpenter, I called ahead for you people to get my plane ready for me."

"Yes sir, it's just getting fuelled up now" the booking desk clerk replied.

"Thank you."

"Have a good day sir."

"I'm sure I will. Goodbye."

"Have a nice flight."

Lelouche then waved to the clerk as he walked off to meet C.C. where she was waiting and said "they're just finishing up refuelling now."

"Then we can get on our way soon then."

"I just said that, didn't I."

"That's neither here nor there."

"Tseh, that's what I get for making deals with the devil."

"I believe that that is what they called you for a while."

"I thought I told you not to bring that up in public."

"There's no one here Lelouche."

Lelouche looked around to see that there was indeed no one anywhere near them and so in response he said "nevertheless."

"Alright."

They then went out to the hanger that their plane was in and got in, ready to go to Australia. After they sat down a voice came over the intercom saying "I know that you've been through this enough times to know what to do by now, but this is regulation, so..."

Lelouche, in the cabin, annoyed said "here we go again."

"Please buckle yourself into your seat as we are about to take off, when we are in the air you may remove them and walk around. In case of an emergency there're lifejackets and rafts that'll fall down from above you, as well as oxygen masks and parachutes are located in the back wall of the plane. We will reach our destination in roughly 18 hours with stop offs in Frankfurt and Singapore(2)."

C.C. said "18 hours, but I thought that the current planes all used float systems."

Lelouche replied "did you honestly think that with the current need to conceal our identities that I could just up and buy the best plane around?"

"Oh, well, if you put it that way."

"Tseh, I'm just as annoyed as you if not more so, with more people running about granting new Geass powers."

"Sorry."

"It's alright C.C."

End Notes:

Sorry about the mini time skip in there. I just really couldn't be bothered writing about the interim.

To find the flight list I used '.'


	3. A Knightmare Nightmare

The corporate jet of the Zero Company touched down in Darwin and Lelouche and C.C. disembarked the plane in the hanger that had been booked for it. After they disembarked they exited via a gate that was on the side of the airfield. Lelouche waved a car to the side of the road and, soon enough a Subaru Imprezza mk II pulled over. When the driver lowered the passenger side window to ask Lelouche and C.C. where they wanted to go, Lelouche activated his Geass(1), gaining the double wing emblem in both of his eyes and a Geass mark on his right hand. He said "I Lelouche vi Britannia command you. Hand me your car."

"Yes..." the driver said, shutting the car down. he then got out and handed him the keys "...here you go."

"You never owned this car and you will not remember why you came here."

"Yes."

"Was that really necessary?" C.C. asked.

"Yes, it was Cecelia(2). It's been a while since I used my Geass, I merely wished to see if I could still use it properly."

"Oh; alright then." Lelouche put his and Cecelia's luggage into the boot of the car and then got in the driver's side as Cecelia was already in the passenger's side. "So where to now Honey?" Cecelia asked.

"The Black Knights' recruiting office on Peel Street. It is a side street connecting Mitchell Street and Smith Street."

"So, you've been keeping even closer tabs on the Black Knights than I thought you had."

"Suzaku and my correspondence is more than just 'how is Nunally.'"

"I suppose I should have known that."

"Yes. Well the hardest part is about to begin."

"Yes. I imagine it is." As Cecelia was saying this Lelouche pulled into Peel Street and parked in a spot that a Toyota Supra had just vacated. Cecelia and Lelouche got out and crossed the road. Lelouche entered the office and five of the present members of the Black Knights all drew their weapons on the unarmed man. Cecelia came in and said "what is going on Dear?"

"I'm not entirely sure; what _is _going on sir?" Lelouche asked, facing the person that was sitting down in front of the desk.

"Who are you son?" the person asked.

"My name is Lelouche..." the Black Knights that were aiming their weapons at Lelouche moved their fingers onto the trigger "...Carpenter. would you care to tell me why these upstanding gentlemen are aiming their guns at me?"

"Let me apologise on behalf of my men and the Black Knights in general; but you are very similar in appearance to the one known as 'the demon emperor' and, having the same name as him...well..."

"It's perfectly understandable and I must say that it is not the first time that such a thing has happened, but as you can clearly see, my hair is red and my eyes green. As I recall the Demon Emperor had neither." The people with their weapons aimed at Lelouche lowered them and each of them apologised in turn.

The man behind the desk said "so, you wish to join the Black Knights then?"

"Indeed. I fail to see any other reason that we, my wife and I, would be here" Lelouche said, wrapping one arm around Cecelia's waist.

"I see. So you're married?"

"Yes. I hope that that won't be a problem?"

"Well, no. It's just that normally we only get people that are single and below the age of 24 trying to sign up. Both of which you clearly aren't."

"Oh, so there's no problem with our enlisting?"

"No. Just fill in these forms..." the recruiting officer handed Cecelia and Lelouche, whom had both just sat down, 3 forms each, dealing with such things as personal information, medical records and other such information, as well as what they would like to specialise in as the Black Knights had changed from purely a militant organisation to one that delved into multiple humanitarian issues. "...and you will be sent to a training facility that will be able to assist in your development."

"Thank you" Lelouche said before he and Cecelia filled out the forms and handed them back to the recruiting officer.

"Well, now..." the recruiting officer said, reading the information provided "alright, you both will be sent to the McDonnell Ranges to begin your training. Your in luck actually. There is a transport about to leave there in about an hour. Just go through that door there..." the recruiting officer indicated a door to the side of the desk that he, Lelouche and Cecelia were sitting at "...and get in the bus that will take you to the airfield and the transport that you will be taking to the training facility."

"Thank you sir."

"Don't thank me. You still need to survive the training that they'll be putting you through."

"What do you mean?" Cecelia asked.

"In the last 5 years only about 12 have graduated from each class, the rest dropped out."

"On average, how many enrol in the course?" Lelouche asked.

"about 25 to 30 each time."

"Well, I'm sure that we'll be just fine. Once again, thank you." Lelouche and Cecelia exited through the door that the recruiting officer had indicated. When they had closed the door behind them they saw that they were in some sort of a garage and saw the bus that they had been told about. They got on the bus, which already had roughly 20 people on it. An hour later and with 5 more people the bus pulled out, drove them and their luggage, which they had retrieved from the boot of the car that Lelouche had illegally acquired and taken on the bus with them to the airport that Lelouche and Cecelia had recently disembarked from. From there, as the recruiting officer had said, they, and their peers, boarded a transport craft that took them to the training facility in the McDonnell ranges.

When they arrived they were taken to a room and the training officer, whom turned out to be Shinichirō Tamaki(3). "Alright you newbie's let's start with an introduction. I'm Training Officer Tamaki. I'll be the person in charge of your group so any complaints you may have, please tell them to me and I shall deal with them. Now, in front of you, you will find screens that have a list of possible Knightmare Frames that we will allow you to train with." Lelouche raised his hand "yes uhhhh, Lelouche was it?" Tamaki said looking up a list that had been provided to him with names and faces.

"Yes sir."

"What seems to be the matter?"

"Well, I was looking at the list that has been provided and I saw that the latest generation Knightmare frame that you've provided to train us on is the seventh."

"What?"

"Well, it says here, you have a Knightmare Frame called a Gareth, a Gekka, a Lancelot Conquista and a Vincent Ward, which, if I remember correctly, is nothing more than a Lancelot for the masses, an Equus, an Akatsuki and what appears to be something called an Aquila"

"That can't be."

"Well it is."

"There must be some mistake."

"See for yourself" Lelouche said pointing at the screen.

Tamaki moved to look at Lelouche's screen and saw, to his shock, that Lelouche was right. He said "well, there should be a Guren Genso(4), a Lancelot Mhòr(5) and an Erelis(6) included in that list."

"Well, something seems to be wrong with your system then."

"I'll see about that problem and allow you to choose your Knightmare Frames tomorrow. Unless you want to hit the firing range, which is down the hall and to your right, that will be all. The officers at the back of the room will tell you where your rooms are and there are maps throughout the facility if you get lost at any time. Dismissed."

"Yes sir" the room full of recruits said as Tamaki left the room.

After Tamaki had left he said "now I have to go see maintenance and find out what's going on...hmm, maybe I should get Kallen in on this one...I'll do that, she was complaining that she was bored after all."

* * *

Authors Notes:

(1) On the final evolution of a Geass the user gains the ability to disable their Geass and reactivate it at will

(2) I will be referring to C.C. as Cecelia from now on.

(3) I will refer to Shinichirō Tamaki as Tamaki from now on as it was done in the anime.

(4) Guren Genso – Mass production version of the Guren S.E.I.T.A.N

– Genso is the Japanese word for Elemental.

– Ninth Generation Knightmare Frame

(5) Lancelot Mhòr – Mass production version of the Lancelot Albion

– Mhòr is the last part of the Gaelic name for Great Britain

– Ninth Generation Knightmare Frame

(6) Erelis – The mass production version of the Aquila

– As Aquila is Spanish for eagle, Erelis is Lithuanian for the same

– Eighth Generation Knightmare Frame


	4. Confinement

Lelouch and Cecelia followed the guard that had been assigned to guide them around the base and to their rooms, Lelouch only paying half attention to what the man was saying, as that was all that was needed. When they were shown their rooms the majority of the students were separated into dorms by gender, but Lelouch and Cecelia were given one of their own, due to their ruse(1) of being married. When the guard left them he said, "I'll tell you what I told the others, dinner is at 0630 in the mess."

Lelouch said, "If you are talking in 24 hour time I believe that you meant to say 'dinner is at 1830' sir."

The guard looked taken aback at the recruits correcting him and said, "Right, two hours in solitary."

"What?" Lelouch demanded, annoyed at the, in his opinion, inferior being punishing him for trying to assist him.

"Alright then, that's insubordination. Four hours in solitary."

"Cecelia!" Lelouch said, having lived together for going on twelve years, knowing that his wife would know what he wanted, even without him having to say it.

"Yes dear," Cecelia said as she watched the dumbass guard march Lelouch away.

After giving the guard ten minutes to clear the area Cecelia went to the personnel office and said to the person at the desk and asked, "hello, are you the person that I talk to about making a complaint against one of your officers? Although I suppose that he isn't really an officer."

"Yes it is, what seems to be the problem miss..."

"It's Mrs actually. Mrs Cecelia Carpenter."

"Oh, you're that married bird, are you?"

"Yes, although I'm not entirely sure that I like the way that you put that."

"Well, sorry ma'am."

"That's fine."

"Huh?" the clerk asked, being thrown for a loop by Cecelia's attitude. "Well, anyway", the clerk said, shaking his head, "what seems to be the problem?"

"The person that was showing us around marched my husband to solitary confinement for four hours."

"What? Why in the world would he do that?"

"The first two hours was when my husband attempted to correct him on the mistake he made when he was trying to tell us when dinner is being served and the guy took offence to it."

"And the second two?" the clerk asked, stunned by the actions of the guide.

"That was for insubordination."

"Well _that _is something that we take very seriously here in the Black Knights."

"Yes, but I'm not entirely sure how my husband asking why he was being confined classifies as insubordination."

The clerk sighed and said, "I think that I know the guy that you're talking about. He has had a record of doing such things and, for the most part, we've overlooked it as nothing more than trying to get the recruits motivated. But this time he really has taken it too far. Thank you for reporting this. I'll take it to general Kōzuki immediately."

"Thank you."

"No problem. This kind of thing is what we are here for, just out of curiosity?"

"Yes?"

"What time did the guy say that dinner was at?"

"0630. Why?"

"No reason, I was just wondering."

"Well, good day."

"Yes, good day to you to."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Five minutes later the person from the personnel office arrived outside Kallen's office. He informed her secretary of his need to speak to her and was let in. Kallen looked up from her paperwork and the man said "General Kōzuki ma'am."

Kallen sighed, saying, "Yes, what is it?"

"I just received a complaint from one of the new recruits."

"What? Already? What seems to be the problem?"

"It would appear that Lieutenant Johnson has locked up Lelouch Carpenter for correcting him."

"What?" Kallen asked, shell-shocked at what the Lieutenant had done. "Correcting him how?"

"Apparently the Lieutenant has problems with 24 hour time ma'am."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, I had problems believing it to ma'am. But he tried to tell the Carpenters that dinner was at half past six in the morning. Apparently he took offense when the mistake was pointed out."

Kallen sighed and said, "that's it. I'm done with him. Tell him that he has tried my patients for the last time. He is hereby court-martialled from the Black Knights with no options to contest it."

"Yes ma'am."

Kallen sighed at the pile of meaningless paper that was before her, which also, unfortunately, came with her position as head of the training facility. She thought, '_Nothing ever happens here. It almost makes me wish that we were still fighting against Britannia._'

Just then Tamaki burst into her office, panting, having got lost on his way; he said, "Kallen, big news."

Kallen's whole attitude did a complete one-eighty at hearing Tamaki's claim, she then remembered who she was talking to and sighed. She asked, "what is it Tamaki?"

"One of the new recruits pointed out something weird about the Knightmare training list."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Kallen asked, not daring to get her hopes up.

"Well, it seems that there are only 7th generation Knightmare Frames being offered to train with."

"What?" Kallen asked, her spirits lifting.

"I didn't believe it myself, so I went to check with the chief maintenance officer on base and, sure enough, there're no models later than the 7th generation there."

Kallen frowned, saying, "That's not possible, I put in an order for more 11th generation Knightmare Frames a month ago."

"Yeah, I didn't want to believe it either, but it's the truth."

Kallen sighed and asked, "Alright then, who's the recruit that pointed it out?"

"One of the married ones, Lelouch Carpenter," Tamaki replied.

Kallen thought to herself '_Lelouch and Cecelia? No way, it's probably just a coincidence._' She said, "Alright, I'll take care of the investigation myself, and send Lelouch and C2 here."

"C2? What do you mean?"

"Oh sorry, I suppose it's just an automatic reaction, referring to a Lelouch, picked up in the good ole days. I meant Lelouch and Cecelia."

"Alright, sure thing."

"Lelouch is probably still in confinement right now."

"Confinement?"

"Yes, apparently ex-Lieutenant Johnson has been up to his old tricks."

"Ex-Lieutenant?"

"Yes, he pushed the line one too many times so I had no choice but to let him go."

"Alright, I'll bring them here lickity-split."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(1) They are _actually_ married  
(2)


	5. Lelouch and Cecelia

Five minutes after Kallen requested the presence of Lelouch and Cecelia they arrived in her office, escorted by Tamaki. She didn't look up from her papers and said, "So, Lelouch and Cecelia, I hear that you two have made quite the arrival, haven't you?"

Lelouch replied, "It wasn't our intention to cause any problems, General."

"I'm sure it wasn't however a situation has arisen that seems to have been pointed out by you and I would like your opinion on why that might be."

"A situation?" Lelouch asked, already knowing that it would be about the missing Knightmare Frames.

"Yes, it's about the list provided for your selection of your Knightmare Frames."

"I'm afraid that you would know more about it than me."

Kallen smiled and said, "Yes, but I'm interested in your opinion as to _why_ they would be missing from the list, rather than pointing fingers at someone."

"I see," said Lelouch, "well, I would say that there are a number of reasons for such a thing to happen. Since we are not currently at war with anyone I would say that the most likely option is that the current Knightmare Frames were merely damaged to the point that they would become unusable, in which case you would need to use substitutions. Of course if we were at war then there are a multitude of reasons. The foremost being the acquisition of the enemies technology, a second would be the prevention of adequate training of troops, of course as it is there are more than enough fully trained pilots to negate that reason."

Kallen, still looking at her papers, said, "You have an astounding grasp of military tactics, Lelouch," Kallen then looked up from her papers and, recognising the two before her, exclaimed, "Lelouch! C2!" Kallen drew a gun and said, "Alright, what's going on here, I saw you die on the Emperors float back in the year 2018 A.T.B."

"Yes, I was supposed to die in the Zero Requiem, but due to some circumstances that are beyond even my intelligence, my fathers' code activated upon my death, reviving me.

"Since then he has been living with me, although I go by Cecelia now," Cecelia said.

Kallen asked, "So, why have you decided to resurface now?"

Lelouch replied, "I'm sure that Suzaku has already informed you of the threats made against Nunnally."

"Yes, I just got his message the other day."

"Well then, your previous question becomes superfluous, doesn't it?"

Kallen thought, '_So, I suppose that that is the answer that I sought back then, 'which is the real Lelouch, the face of a kind older brother or Zero?'_ Kallen asked, "so, why did you decide to join the Black Knights? Surely you don't think that you'll just be given a leading role, do you?"

"No, I wouldn't expect so. Honestly we only came here because it would be the fastest way to acquire new Knightmare Frames. After that we were going to head to Britannia."

"I see. Well, alright then, just don't expect any special treatment."

"I would never ask you to."

"Very well then, I was going to head over to research and development later today, to ensure that the next set of Knightmare Frames makes it through, would you care to join me?"

"Sure thing, would I be able to use a Lancelot Conquista equipped with three VARIS rifles, one with a Hadron Blaster modification."

"Yes, what about you...was it Cecelia?"

"Yes. I'll take the same, except with the standard two Maser Vibration Swords and a VARIS rifle."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note:

If there are any complaints about this chapter can you please send them to me in a message and I will attempt to address them.


	6. Lancelot Conquistador

After Kallen had concluded her business with Lelouch and Cecelia she picked up her phone and dialled the Knightmare Frame Maintenance Division. When the head engineer picked up the phone she said, "Hey, Nikolai, I'm going to need two Lancelot Conquista's made ready to leave with me this afternoon, one with three VARIS rifles, one of which is to have a Hadron Blaster modification. The other will have the two standard Maser Vibration Swords along with another VARIS rifle."

"Very well ma'am, who are they for, if you don't mind my askin'?"

"That's classified."

"Very well ma'am, it's just that..."

"'Just that', just that what?"

"Well, it's just that with the Lancelot Conquista's the OS needs to be customised for the pilot's reflexes."

"That's not a problem; the pilots that I have in mind are more than capable of doing that themselves."

"Very well ma'am."

"Thanks."

In the maintenance hangar the head engineer thought to himself, '_well well, it's been a long time since General Kōzuki has trusted someone enough to have her back like this, it must be someone from back before the Black Knights were created. But why would that be classified?_' the engineer then said aloud, "Ah well, probably above my pay-grade," then he called out, "hey Lou, Bob, Sparky, come over 'ere." Soon enough the three engineers that he called came rushing over and, when they were with him, he said, "Alright you lot, General Kōzuki just put in an order for two modified Conquista's, one with three VARIS rifles, one with a Hadron extension and get this, no Maser Vibration Swords, we should probably include a Maser Vibration Knife, just in case the mystery pilot runs out of blasts with their guns."

"Yeah, okay, but why don't we just forgo the Hadron extension and provide them a Super VARIS rifle instead?"

"Hmm...well it would save on excess weight, thereby improving its mobility...sure why not."

"Okay, what about the other one?"

"Two Maser Vibration Swords along with one VARIS rifle."

Sparky said, "Hey, Nikolai, I've recently been tinkering with the Radiant Wave Technology and found a way to incorporate it with a normal VARIS Rifle. I call the end product a Radiant Wave Rifle, do you think that that would be acceptable?"

"Yeah sure, why not, we can't let those white coats over in R&D have all the fun. What can it do?"

"It can fire Radiant Energy in the form of either a beam or a spherical shaped blast."

"Okay, that sounds good, we will have to inform the pilots of the changes of course. And we should probably include a VARIS pistol too."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," said Lou.

"Good, Bob, you're with me on the first Conquista, Sparky, Lou, you can take care of the second."

Sparky, Bob and Lou said, "Right," and left to take care of their respective jobs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Five hours later Nikolai called Kallen's office and, when she picked up the phone, said, "They're all ready for the pilot's ma'am."

"Alright, thanks. I'll send them down now."

"Very well ma'am, we'll be expectin' 'em in about ten minutes then?"

"Yes, and I know I've said this before, but can you please stop cutting your words in pieces?"

"Nicht."

Kallen, expressing her irritation, sighed and said, "Fine, I'll send them down now."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Twenty minutes later, after navigating their way through the military installation, Lelouch and Cecelia arrived in the maintenance bay. When they entered through the doors Nikolai looked up from where he was seated and said, "So, are you two the pilots that General Kōzuki wanted them Knightmare Frames for?"

Lelouch replied, "That would be us, yes."

"When we was doin' your mod's we took some...liberties...if you will."

"Liberties?"

"Yeah, who was the one that wanted the one without the Maser Vibration Swords?"

"That would be me."

"Ah yes, well, first off, we call yours the Lancelot Conquistador: Shalim instead of your Hadron attachment we retrofitted yours with a Super VARIS rifle to save on the excess weight that comes with including that on the float system."

"Oh, thank you. I wouldn't have thought of that."

Nikolai smiled and said, "Yeah well, that's what they pay _us_ for."

"Indeed."

"We also attached two Maser Vibration Knives to the back of your Knightmare Frame, in case you run out of fire power."

"Thank you, although I doubt I'll need it."

"Yes well, it doesn't hurt to be prepared now does it?"

"No, it doesn't."

"As for the other Knightmare Frame,we call that one the Lancelot Conquistador: Shahar. We modified that VARIS Rifle that you requested into a Radiant Wave Rifle, it doesn't have the after effect of destroying the thing firing it."

Cecelia said, "Thank you, but doesn't the Radiant Wave Technology use up a lot of power?"

"Yeah, it used to, but recently Nina Einstein improved on it and it no longer takes up that much energy to use. We also added a VARIS pistol in a thigh holster. Instructions for the new systems are in your cockpit." Cecelia thanked Nikolai as they walked to where Nikolai and his team left the married couple's Knightmare Frames. Nikolai asked, "So, if you don't mind my askin', did you two know General Kōzuki back in the days of Zero's Black Rebellion?"

Lelouch asked, "Why would you think that?"

"Well, it's just that in the years that I've known her she hasn't really trusted anyone to watch her back in combat, now you two come along and she requests a pair of custom Knightmare Frames."

"I see. Well then yes, we did used to know each other. We went to the same school together, for a time."

"Ah, I see. If that's all then the other modifications that we made may not prove to be too useful."

"What other modifications?" Lelouch demanded, getting fed up with the amount of 'liberties' that the mechanic was taking.

"Well, since we figured that you and the General was old friends in the black rebellion we changed the Integrated Float System from the typical one that comes with the Conquista to the one that comes with the Akatsuki's."

"Oh, that was very thoughtful of you..."

Nikolai thought '_So I was right, they do know General Kallen from the Black Rebellion._'

"...however unnecessary."

'_Tch, so they don't want anyone to know, makes sense I suppose._' Nikolai said, "Well, I won't tell anybody if that's the way it is."

Lelouch thought, '_This guy's smarter than I thought. Ah well, if he's not going to say anything, then it's well enough._'

Nikolai said, "Normally the trainee Knightmare frames have their colour systems locked to be either black or white, depending on the exercises being performed, but since this is not a training exercise the Knightmare Frame colour functions have been unlocked for your personalised use. When you're finished with the system just save the configurations for us so that we don't need to re-enter your data into the system when you get supplied with the proper Knightmare Frames, alright?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Lelouch said as they reached their Knightmare Frames.

"Well, I'll see you two later then," Nikolai said and waved farewell as he walked off.

Lelouch and Cecelia climbed into the cockpits of their Knightmare Frames to begin working on inputting their data into the system to optimise the combat capabilities of their Knightmare Frames.

When Lelouch finished entering his data into the Knightmare System, Cecelia still had a fair while to go. He then went on to select the colour scheme of his Knightmare. He browsed through the colours provided and, in the end, decided to forgo his earlier colour scheme, instead choosing to have the base colour of his Knightmare to be metallic red with metallic yellow accents and metallic black joints. Lelouch then started to move his Lancelot around the hanger in order to get accustomed with the increase in manoeuvrability compared to his Shinkirō.

After about 5 minutes of walking around the hanger Cecelia had finished entering her data and chose a sky blue base colour for her Lancelot with emerald green accents. Due to her possession of the Lancelot Frontier, she was more than familiar enough with the movements and controls of her Lancelot she had no need to familiarise herself with its manoeuvrability, just to be sure though, she took off and moved around the hanger to familiarise herself with the way her current Knightmare moves in comparison to the one that she had left back at their home in Austria. Over her intercom she said, "Lelouch, what's with the colour scheme?"

"What do you mean? I fail to see a problem with it."

"I thought that you were going to use black and white?"

"Yeah well, even _I _can change my mind once in a while."

"What do you know, 8 years of living together and you can still surprise me Lelouch."

"I'd say that we are probably going to find new ways to surprise each other for quite a long time Cecelia."

In her cockpit Cecelia smiled and thought, '_He's probably right,'_ before saying, "Well we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, after all, the future isn't written yet, right?" Lelouch let out a scoffing laughter. "Well, at any rate, are you finished with your warm-ups?"

"Yeah, the system is faster than the Shinkirō's, both physically and in the reaction times between when I tell it to do something and when it does it."

"Yes, I would expect so. After all, our machines are only 8th generation, these are 10th, well, now they are at any rate."

"I've got the feeling that this would have been faster than the Shinkirō, even before the upgrades."

"I don't know about that, but it is possible, after all, there wasn't that much different between the 7th generation Knightmare Frames and the 8th generation ones."

"Well, irrespective of that, are you done?"

"Yes."

"Good, let's go and tell that nosy engineer that we've finished then."

"Alright," Cecelia said as she brought her Knightmare to a halt and exited her cockpit with a flash drive containing her settings as Lelouch exited his with an almost identical flash drive. They took them to the engineer.

After they gave their reflex data to the engineer they went to Kallen's office. When they were both in the office Kallen looked up from her paperwork and, seeing that it was Lelouch and Cecelia she said, "So, is everything to your satisfaction?"

"Yes," Lelouch said, "Everything is good to go."

"How was Nikolai?"

"Just about as annoying as Rakshata can be when it comes to Lloyd."

"I see, so he was taking liberties with your Knightmares then?"

"Yes, and he also knows that we worked together in the Black Rebellion."

"What?!" Kallen exclaimed, "You didn't..."

"No, of course I didn't. I'd say that he has an intellect somewhere around my level. Thankfully he seems content to keep it to himself."

"Yeah, I trust him with the upkeep of my own Knightmare Frame and I've never had any problems."

"Alright then, when do we start?"

"Hmm...2300 hours. I'll meet you at the hanger with flight suits."

"Alright, see you then," Cecelia said.

"Yeah, later," Kallen said, still having problems with being in Cecelia's presence, but also knowing that the two before her were the only ones that were completely above reproach as Lelouch would do just about anything for Nunally's sake, and Cecelia would go along with whatever Lelouch had planned, even if only from curiosity to see what would come of it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N

Sorry about the ending of it, I left half-finished for so long that I forgot where I had intended to take this chapter.


	7. Knightmares

At 11 o'clock Lelouch and Cecelia met Kallen in the Knightmare hanger with a pair of flight suits, wearing her own. She said, "After you put them on we're taking off immediately."

"Yes Ma'am," Cecelia said, saluting as a way of mocking the red head.

Kallen sighed and said, "You never change, do you, C2?"

"I go by Cecelia now; and yes, I do...although it does take quite a bit to do so," Cecelia said, as she headed to her Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot Conquistador: Shahar with her flight suit.

Lelouch took his flight suit from Kallen and said, "Just like old times Q1?"

Kallen barked a laugh and said, "Not quite. I'm in charge this time."

"Very well," Lelouch said before heading to his Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot Conquistador: Shalim. Kallen went to her own.

Five minutes later the three experienced pilots took off, headed towards the Research and Development Bureau. After a few minutes of silence, Kallen said over the radio, "Hey Lelouch."

"Yes?" Lelouch answered.

"I want you to come up with possible ways that the bastards have been stealing our Knightmares."

"Well, I've already come up with a few solutions to that particular problem."

"..."

"The first one is particularly unlikely, so I'll start with it. A full force attack against the carriers and their guards. Of course the Black Knights' scanners should be able to detect them easily and despatch reinforcements to deal with them. The problem in that method lies with the frequency with which the radio frequency changes, provided the same procedures that we used in the Black Rebellion are still being used. Which means that jamming the radio's should be near impossible."

"The second?"

"There is someone in the Research and Development Division that informs the enemy of a new load of Knightmare Frames being sent out. Given the relative closeness between the two facilities, the would need some way to get the stolen Knightmare Frames away from here quickly. Of course, that could be accounted for by an airship with an advanced cloaking system."

"That sounds ridiculous Lelouch. We have more than enough sensors to..."

"Heat sensors can be fooled, as can electromagnetic ones. The only way to be sure something is not there is if you can see it...However if you could somehow directly project what was on one side of a ship onto the opposite side, it would theoretically be possible to completely hide the ship from human sight. Well...that's _a_ theory at any rate."

"What's the last one?"

"The first shipment was the only one that they stole anything from."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to get an example of the latest technology, all you really need is _one _Knightmare. It could be that they have just destroyed all of the other deliveries...given that there is no evidence, such as scorch marks, or debris, this is actually less likely than the first one."

"So you're saying that there's really only one option, aren't you?"

"Basically."

"Alright. While we're at the Facility I want you two to poke around a bit, to see if you can find this traitor. But don't get caught doing it."

"Alright, but what will you be doing?" Cecelia asked.

"I have red tape to cut through with the Base Commander."

"Very well," Lelouch said, cutting off whatever remark his wife was about to make. "What should we do about these Knightmare's?"

"Report to room bk302 when we get there and talk to Xander."

"Alright," Lelouch said.

The rest of the flight went by in silence, all three pilots keeping their thoughts to themselves, Lelouch was considering how he would go about looking into the traitor's presence without divulging that they knew about it. Kallen was reminiscing of all of the times that the three went into battle alongside each other, and their final battle against each other. Cecelia was thinking on how she could mess with Kallen.

XXXXX

Three hours later they flew into the hanger bay of the Research and Development Department. Once they were done with their post-flight checks they exited their Knightmares. Kallen approached the head mechanics with Lelouch standing on her right side, slightly behind her, and Cecelia similarly located, but on her left. Before Kallen could greet them the Head Mechanic, Travis, said "What the hell are those things?"

"They're some older training Knightmares that needed to be made ready to participate in a real battle situation, should it arise."

"I see. So...do you want us to scrap 'em?"

"That's up to the pilots to decide," Kallen said, indicating Lelouch and Cecelia as she was talking.

Travis raised an eyebrow, silently repeating the same question. Lelouch was the one who replied. "If the Knightmare Frames that we will receive upon 'scrapping them' will outperform the ones that we have access to currently. Then of course. However I would request that the armaments remain the same."

"Sure. The training Knightmare's that are given out outstrip them things by far. But you'll need to talk to the Base Commander in order to get some battle-ready ones," Travis said, scratching his chin as he talked.

"I'll take care of that," Kallen said, "while I'm taking care of that red tape that I was telling you about earlier."

"Thank you, sir," Lelouch said, playing his part to the 'T'. "What do you want us to do in the meantime?"

"Do whatever you want," Kallen said, playing along with Lelouch's ruse.

"Very well," Lelouch said, not letting Cecelia talk and potentially break their ruse.

They continued to follow Kallen until they reached the elevators, where they took separate ones, Kallen having told them how to get to room bk302 as they had reached sight of the base. It was on the third floor below ground. When they exited the elevator they saw that, unlike the floor that had the hanger bay, there were no guards other than those sitting at the desks on either side of the foyer-type space that the elevators occupied. As Lelouch and Cecelia attempted to walk past them, one of the guards said, "Name's and purpose."

"Excuse me?" Cecelia said in a emocking tone.

"You must be new here. When you enter any of the lower levels you are required to give your name and purpose on this floor for our records."

"Ah," Lelouch said. "My name is Lelouch Carpenter, this is my wife Cecelia, temporarily acting as General Kōzuki's direct subordinates. As to our purpose, we have been told to see someone named Xander in room bk302."

"I see," The guard said. "Go ahead, first door on the right."

"Thank you," Lelouch said, heading to where the guard had told them to go.

When Lelouch and Cecelia had entered the designated room they almost took a step backwards in awe of what they were seeing...almost. They were in a theatre-esque room lined with people in white coats sitting at computers, protected from the stage by a screen of reinforced glass. On the 'stage' there was an equine Knightmare Frame that seemed to have Energy Wings sprouting from its flanks. with a MVS Lance sticking out from an arm where the 'neck' started. From somewhere, likely the reinforced glass box on the side of the stage, an announcement came over a speaker system. It said, "Now commencing firing test #15." The head exploded, causing a man with longish brown hair, that was standing in front of the glass screen to start cursing up a storm. Then he saw the two pilots standing by the doorway. He rushed over to them, his face red from anger that he had every intention of taking out on the unfortunate pilots. When he was two feet away from them he shouted, "What the hell are you simpleton pilots doing here? You have no business on this _floor_, let alone in this _room_."

"Actually...," Lelouch said, not fazed one bit by the man's attitude, accustomed to dealing with irate people from his experience leading a multi-national terrorist organisation. "...We do have business here. You see General Kōzuki told us to come here and see a man named Xander."

"I'm Xander," The man said, somewhat calming down, knowing that Kallen wouldn't send some two-bit meat-heads to _him_. "What can I do for you?"

"To be honest...I have no idea. But I'm curious. What just happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know. This' the fifteenth time we've tested this new weapons system, but for some reason _that_ keeps on happening," Xander said, referring to the explosion that occurred not even a minute prior.

"Hmm..." Lelouch said, "could it be mechanical in nature?"

"I already thought of that, every time we've checked it over after it literally blew up in our faces. But each time everything was perfect. I even went over the code for it the last time it happened. There were no problems with it."

"Hmm..." Lelouch said, thinking on what the problem could be.

"Though I don't know what good telling you all this is."

"I'm the owner and director of the Todomo Agency, so I know something of weaponry mechanics."

"Really?" Xander asked, disbelief written all over his face.

"Yes," Lelouch said, "so I also know of some of the things, and reasons, that employees use to undermine a situation. The favourite one that I've come across is mess with the code of the firing mechanism and then switch it back to how it was before anyone comes around to check it out. After all, most code for systems such as that are very complex and don't deal with anomalies that still allow it to fire very well."

"I see," Xander said, seeing the situation exactly as Lelouch had outlined it.

"As a matter of fact, I saw this guy here typing rather rapidly just after the explosion," Lelouch said, indicating the man sitting at the computer next to where Xander was standing.

Xander frowned at the man and thought, _'Boris?' _He said, "No, it couldn't be Boris here, he's been with us since just after the Black Rebellion."

"Well, why don't we ask him," Lelouch suggested, getting between Xander and Boris. He activated his Geass and made sure that Boris was looking at him before asking, "Boris, did you sabotage this experiment?"

"Yes," Boris replied.

"Why?" Lelouch pressed.

"Because, this bastard got the promotion that _I_ deserve! I've been here since he was in primary school, but he gets promoted to head developer over me?! Where's the justice in that?"

"As far as I was aware promotions were given based on individual merit, not how long they have been here."

"You!" Boris said, angry at being found out. He pushed Lelouch into Xander, clearing his way to the exit. He got out quickly and ran down the short corridor to the elevators. Cecelia though, called out, "Guards! Stop him!'

The guards pushed a button on their desks that stopped the elevator on their side from moving onto, or from their floor.

"Damnit!" Boris exclaimed as he was taken into custody by the two guards.

Back in the development room, Lelouch was going over the code with Xander, looking for what Boris had changed in order to cause the explosions. Eventually Lelouch found the anomaly, which was promptly corrected by Xander. After they were done, Xander asked, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Kall...General Kōzuki said that we should see you about getting some Knightmare Frames for the journey back...Although I'm not sure why we wouldn't just use some of the ones that will be being sent to the Training Facility."

"Ah, I see. I can help you there."

"Really?" Cecelia said, as if that weren't obvious.

"Yes. You see, the Knightmare's that are sent to the academy, actually perform at slightly less than the actual Knightmare's used in the field in order for the students to get used to the controls and speeds that they'll be going at."

"I see," Lelouch said.

"So the General want's the two of you to be battle-ready if the need arises?"

"That just about sums it up."

"Well then, I'm your man. To tell you the truth, there's this new system that I've been wanting to try out...but the simulations that I've been running seem to indicate that a really high level of intelligence, or a level of spacial awareness similar to that of Zero or the General is needed to make full use of it, neither of which have any use for it."

"Really?" Lelouch asked, "Why is that?"

"Well, it's essentially an extension of the Harken System, which the General has no need for, and neither does Zero, due to his Knightmare's main function as a close-combat type Knightmare Frame. Since you seem to meet the former requirement for the system, I'd like to include it on your Knightmare."

"That's fine."

"Cool, now, you ma'am?"

"I have no particular fondness for either close combat, or ranged combat. However I would appreciate it if you took both types into account when building mine."

"Sure," Xander said. "They'll be ready for you in about six days."

"Six days?" Lelouch asked, "Couldn't it be done faster?"

"Normally yeah, but since the General is here, something must be up at the Training Facility...speaking of which..."

"Lack of Knightmare Frames for the students to train on."

"Oh...I see. Then six days it is."

"Why such a time limit?"

"Well, it normally takes about eighteen days to make a full shipment of Knightmare Frames for the academy's use. But since it's an emergency, every engineer in the entire base will be working on it. Since that's the case, we should be able to make the shipment in nine days. So if we're done with both of yours in six, that will leave you with three days to get accustomed to your new Knightmares."

"Alright," Lelouch said, "you have our sincerest gratitude for this Xander."

"Indeed," Cecelia said, echoing Lelouch's sentiment.

"It's no problem. You guys are giving me the chance to gather some really valuable test data for further development of the systems that will be installed on your Knightmares."

"I see."

"Well, _you_ go away while _we_ construct your masterpieces."

Lelouch said, "If they're test machines then how can they..." before Cecelia dragged him away, not wanting to listen to another of her husband's lectures about the proper grammatical expressions.


End file.
